Bridges and Water

I love being near water and when we're at the Van I am truly spoilt with canalside walks only a short drive or walk away depending on where we pick them up.  In hot weather, we drive into Garstang and park up and join the canal at any of the bridges that intersect the town.  It means that little Puggy legs don't have too far to trot to be close to the water and its amazing smells and sights.  In the cooler weather, when her little Puggy legs and snuffly nose can go further we simply cross the busy A6 from the caravan park and wander down country lanes that eventually lead us to the same canals.

There's so much to look at on a canal path so walks are never the same two days running.  There's the wildlife, the other towpath users ... cyclists, runners and dog walkers, but our favourite pastime is checking out the boat names.  The cute, the comedy, the obvious mishmash of two Christian names.  Our current favourites are 'Pist n' Broke' ... an obvious work in progress, and 'My Newt' ... which is the teeniest, tiniest little barge you ever did see!!

But on the days when I stay closer to home each morning the sound of the river rushing by as I walk with Suky along the riverbank is soothing, and I've been known to sit on a damp bench for far too long just to stay in the vicinity of the water for longer.  There's so much to delight the senses, the fresh morning smell, the sounds of birds, the water itself or the ducks squabbling noisily amongst themselves over titbits thrown from the riverside caravans.

Of course, if you have water you usually need the means to cross it and bridges are another thing close to my heart.  The main bridges that lead into the caravan park have the river flowing under four of them, the road into the park under one and a pathway to the opposite bank of the river under the sixth.  Along the top of the bridge, the trains run busily day and night taking commuters from Preston to Lancaster and the Lakes and pulling goods wagons, relieving the road system in the area.

Truly a hardworking set of arches.

The other bridge on the caravan park is the new one over the river, built no doubt after the floods of the last few years that totally made getting into or out of the park impossible when the road flooded and stayed flooded.  It's this one that now sees new caravans brought onto the park and old ones removed, and each morning and evening it is used by the dog walkers crossing the river to let their faithful companions have the freedom of lead-free running for a while.

It holds no real beauty, but it is functional, solid and serves its purpose well.

I might not like it as much as the ones that look lovely, the ones that echo as you quietly call out 'helloo' as you walk under ... I just have to, it would be wrong not too.  

But Suky loves her bridge to freedom.  Will we go to the left, the right ... or is it 'coffee and cake' day and we will run straight down the road through the fields and end up in Suky's most favouritist shop in the whole wide world ... beating the ''bone shop' by the smallest whisker.

Sue xx